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Jays rookie Chad Jenkins picks up first career win in 4-3 victory over Minnesota Twins

Chad Jenkins shows plenty of promise as a big-league hurler, but Jays manager John Farrell says the club needs to acquire more starting pitching in order to compete next season.

Jays baserunner Brett Lawrie makes it close but fails to beat the relay to Twins first baseman Chris Parmelee after hitting a groundball to third in the first inning Tuesday night. (RENE JOHNSTON / TORONTO STAR) | Order this photo

By Brendan KennedySports Reporter

Wed., Oct. 3, 2012

John Farrell says his wish list for off-season upgrades hasn’t changed from a year ago: “starting pitching.”

On that front, the Blue Jays’ second-year manager says he’s on the same page as his boss, GM Alex Anthopoulos, who has reiterated his plans to seek improvements to the Jays’ rotation via trade and or free agency this year.

Last year Anthopoulos didn’t add any proven starters, choosing to forge ahead with a rotation led by Ricky Romero and Brandon Morrow and filled out by a trio of youngsters, Henderson Alvarez, Kyle Drabek and Drew Hutchison, who entered the year with fewer than 160 big-league innings between them.

Anthopoulos’s indecision proved costly this season — the second-worst in franchise history since 1980 — which began its death spiral in mid-June when Morrow, Drabek and Hutchison all went down with injuries in the same week, sending the Jays scrambling for replacements and exposing their lack of depth on the mound.

Farrell said the club’s pitching needs will be even more pressing next year, because neither Drabek nor Hutchison will return from their respective elbow surgeries until mid-season or later.

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“You look at the teams in the playoff hunt, they’ve pitched very well,” Farrell said. “Not every team is going to be like the New York Yankees and seemingly lead the league every year in runs scored. It comes down to pitching.”

Rookie Chad Jenkins, who started Tuesday on just three days’ rest in place of Carlos Villanueva, made another strong case to be considered part of the Jays’ pitching future. The 24-year-old, who debuted earlier this year in the bullpen, earned his first career win by leading the Jays to a 4-3 victory, their second straight over the visiting Minnesota Twins.

Jenkins, a first-round draft pick in 2009 making just his third major-league start, held the Twins scoreless through five innings before giving up a two-run home run to Denard Span in the sixth.

Kelly Johnson, who tied Jose Canseco for the Jays’ single-season strikeout record in the second inning, also hit a two-run homer in the fourth, his 16th of the year but only his sixth since the all-star break.

“Seems odd to not know about that until just now,” Johnson said when asked about tying Canseco’s club record. “I can’t say I put a whole lot of thought into that, but the home run was good.”

With the win, the Jays fend off 90 losses for another day and clinch fourth place in the AL East, ensuring the Boston Red Sox finish in the basement. The Jays’ season meets its humble end against the Twins on Wednesday.

In addition to more starting pitching, Farrell said it would be “a plus” to add another offensive threat to the lineup, preferably one who gets on base more and strikes out less than those currently at his disposal. The team doesn’t need another power hitter, he said.

“We’ve got a number of guys that can drive the ball out of the ballpark. But that line-drive guy that’s a low-strikeout, higher-average (hitter), that would be the profile.”

The Jays have hit just .246 as a team this year, fourth-lowest in the AL. They have the fifth-most home runs in the league, but also the fifth-most strikeouts and second-lowest on-base percentage.

“We knew going into spring training we had the potential for anywhere from five to seven guys to hit 20 home runs, but we knew there were going to be strikeout totals that were going to be a little above average as well, relative to the league.”

This year has been a combination of highs and lows for Jenkins, one of the Jays’ top pitching prospects. He struggled through the first half of the season at Double-A New Hampshire and appeared to have regressed in his development towards the majors. His ERA was a bloated 5.36 at the midway point in the season.

“There were parts of this year when I wasn’t sure I was going to get here,” Jenkins admits.

But he pitched well in his final three minor-league starts, earned a call-up to aid the Jays’ bullpen in August and hasn’t looked back. Now he has his first big-league win.

“When he pitches in the bottom of the strike zone and puts the ball on the ground, he’s effective,” said Farrell.

Jenkins relies heavily on a sinking two-seam fastball and is most successful when pitching to contact.

“He’s been efficient and he’s done a solid job in the time he’s been here,” Farrell said.

VIZQUEL’S FAREWELL: After 24 seasons in the majors, Omar Vizquel will play his final game on Wednesday at the Rogers Centre. The Jays’ 45-year-old infielder hasn’t started a game since he criticized the team’s coaching staff in a local newspaper last Friday, but Farrell said the veteran will start Wednesday. ESPN Desportes, the U.S. sports network’s Spanish-language affiliate, is planning to broadcast the game live in Vizquel’s native Venezuela.

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